State of Tennessee Department of State Tennessee State Library and Archives Works Progress Administration Historical Records Survey, 1935-1943 COLLECTION SUMMARY Creator: Historical Records Survey (U.S.) Inclusive Dates: 1935-1943 Scope & Content: Consists of approximately 106 cubic feet of documents related to the Works Progress Administration Historical Records Survey in Tennessee. The collection contains two series: 1) administrative records and 2) records transcriptions. The material in Series I originally underwent processing in 1987 as RG 107, while the material in Series II remained mostly unprocessed and separated from RG 107. Because the documents in RG 107 were actually federal rather than state records, the record group underwent deaccessioning as a state record group and reaccessioning as Series II of an existing manuscript collection in 2018-2019. The vast majority of the material in Series I consists of daily progress reports submitted by individual employees. Payroll records make up the next largest amount of material. There are also several reports on various WPA projects, including the Historical Records Survey. The reports mostly date from the period when WPA projects shut down due to U.S. involvement in World War II. Series II contains transcriptions of county records from 83 of Tennessee's 95 counties. A few of the transcriptions are typed, but the vast majority are hand- written in pencil. The transcriptions are primarily of county/chancery/circuit court minutes but also include marriage records, wills, deeds, surveyor's records, etc. Box 212 contains information about African American cemeteries located in 17 counties. The records for Davidson County contain very little information. Most 1 of them only list the cemetery name and a very general location, such as "Edmonson Family graveyard, Nolensville Rd." The records from other counties usually contain much more information, such as when the cemetery was established, who created it, the number of graves or the acreage of the cemetery, etc. In September 2019, the discovery of numerous Historical Records Survey memoranda among unprocessed TSLA office files led to the transfer of addition materials resulting in Box 213 of this collection Physical Description/Extent: 106 cubic feet Accession/Record Group Number: 2019-004 Language: English Permanent Location: XXII-A-2 through F-2 Repository: Tennessee State Library and Archives, 403 Seventh Avenue North, Nashville, Tennessee, 37243-0312 Administrative/Biographical History • April 8, 1935 -- The Emergency Relief Appropriation Act of 1935 funds the creation of numerous federal agencies, including the Works Progress Administration (WPA). • May 6, 1935 -- Executive Order 7034 establishes the WPA. • July 1935 -- Harry S. Berry becomes state administrator of the newly established WPA in Tennessee. • August-September 1935 -- Federal Project Number One (also known as Federal One) begins under the direction of the Division of Women's and Professional Projects (later renamed the Division of Professional and Service Projects). Federal One establishes the Federal Art Project, the Federal Music Project, the Federal Theatre Project, and the Federal Writers' Project. • November 15, 1935 -- The Historical Records Survey (HRS) begins under the direction of the Federal Writer's Project. Its purpose was to survey and index records in state, county, and local archives. 2 • April 1936 -- The HRS launches in Tennessee under the direction of Marshall Jones. • October 1936 -- The HRS becomes an independent division of Federal One. • June-September 1939 -- Funding cuts force the termination of all Federal One divisions. HRS becomes a unit of the Research and Records Program, Professional and Service Division. • September 1939 -- Direction of HRS projects becomes the responsibility of individual states. Operation of the project depends on funding from local sources. In Tennessee, the State Planning Commission, as well as the various county and city governments, takes over HRS funding. • February 1, 1943 -- Presidential letter of December 4, 1942 terminates operations of the HRS. Organization/Arrangement of Materials Series I: Administrative records Series II: Records transcriptions Conditions of Access and Use Restrictions on Access: No restrictions. Restrictions on Use and Reproduction: While the Tennessee State Library and Archives houses an item, it does not necessarily hold the copyright on the item, nor may it be able to determine if the item is still protected under current copyright law. Users are solely responsible for determining the existence of such instances and for obtaining any other permissions and paying associated fees that may be necessary for the intended use. Index Terms Corporate Names/Organizations/Government Bodies: Federal Writers' Project. Tennessee Historical Records Survey. Transcription Unit United States. Works Progress Administration. United States. Works Progress Administration. Division of Professional and Service Projects United States. Works Progress Administration. Division of Women's and Professional Projects 3 Subjects: African American cemeteries -- Tennessee New Deal, 1933-1939--Tennessee Geographic Names: Anderson County (Tenn.) -- History -- Sources Bedford County (Tenn.) -- History -- Sources Benton County (Tenn.) -- History -- Sources Bledsoe County (Tenn.) -- History -- Sources Blount County (Tenn.) -- History -- Sources Bradley County (Tenn.) -- History -- Sources Campbell County (Tenn.) -- History -- Sources Cannon County (Tenn.) -- History -- Sources Carroll County (Tenn.) -- History -- Sources Carter County (Tenn.) -- History -- Sources Cheatham County (Tenn.) -- History -- Sources Claiborne County (Tenn.) -- History -- Sources Clay County (Tenn.) -- History -- Sources Coffee County (Tenn.) -- History -- Sources Crockett County (Tenn.) -- History -- Sources Cumberland County (Tenn.) -- History -- Sources Davidson County (Tenn.) -- History -- Sources Decatur County (Tenn.) -- History -- Sources DeKalb County (Tenn.) -- History -- Sources Dickson County (Tenn.) -- History -- Sources Dyer County (Tenn.) -- History -- Sources Fayette County (Tenn.) -- History -- Sources Fentress County (Tenn.) -- History -- Sources Franklin County (Tenn.) -- History -- Sources Gibson County (Tenn.) -- History -- Sources Giles County (Tenn.) -- History -- Sources Grainger County (Tenn.) -- History -- Sources Greene County (Tenn.) -- History -- Sources Grundy County (Tenn.) -- History -- Sources Hamblen County (Tenn.) -- History -- Sources Hamilton County (Tenn.) -- History -- Sources Hardeman County (Tenn.) -- History -- Sources Hardin County (Tenn.) -- History -- Sources Hawkins County (Tenn.) -- History -- Sources Haywood County (Tenn.) -- History -- Sources Henderson County (Tenn.) -- History -- Sources Henry County (Tenn.) -- History -- Sources Hickman County (Tenn.) -- History -- Sources Humphreys County (Tenn.) -- History -- Sources 4 Jackson County (Tenn.) -- History -- Sources Jefferson County (Tenn.) -- History -- Sources Johnson County (Tenn.) -- History -- Sources Knox County (Tenn.) -- History -- Sources Lauderdale County (Tenn.) -- History -- Sources Lawrence County (Tenn.) -- History -- Sources Lewis County (Tenn.) -- History -- Sources Lincoln County (Tenn.) -- History -- Sources Macon County (Tenn.) -- History -- Sources Madison County (Tenn.) -- History -- Sources Marshall County (Tenn.) -- History -- Sources Maury County (Tenn.) -- History -- Sources McMinn County (Tenn.) -- History -- Sources McNairy County (Tenn.) -- History -- Sources Meigs County (Tenn.) -- History -- Sources Monroe County (Tenn.) -- History -- Sources Montgomery County (Tenn.) -- History -- Sources Morgan County (Tenn.) -- History -- Sources Obion County (Tenn.) -- History -- Sources Overton County (Tenn.) -- History -- Sources Perry County (Tenn.) -- History -- Sources Putnam County (Tenn.) -- History -- Sources Rhea County (Tenn.) -- History -- Sources Roane County (Tenn.) -- History -- Sources Robertson County (Tenn.) -- History -- Sources Rutherford County (Tenn.) -- History -- Sources Scott County (Tenn.) -- History -- Sources Sequatchie County (Tenn.) -- History -- Sources Sevier County (Tenn.) -- History -- Sources Shelby County (Tenn.) -- History -- Sources Smith County (Tenn.) -- History -- Sources Stewart County (Tenn.) -- History -- Sources Sullivan County (Tenn.) -- History -- Sources Sumner County (Tenn.) -- History -- Sources Tennessee -- History -- Sources Tipton County (Tenn.) -- History -- Sources Union County (Tenn.) -- History -- Sources Van Buren County (Tenn.) -- History -- Sources Warren County (Tenn.) -- History -- Sources Washington County (Tenn.) -- History -- Sources Wayne County (Tenn.) -- History -- Sources Weakley County (Tenn.) -- History -- Sources White County (Tenn.) -- History -- Sources Williamson County (Tenn.) -- History -- Sources Wilson County (Tenn.) -- History -- Sources 5 Document Types: Administrative reports Civil court records Daily reports Deed books Estate records Land surveys Memorandums Payroll records Personnel records Progress reports Property records Vital statistics records Wills Acquisition and Appraisal Provenance and Acquisition: It is unclear when this material arrived at the Tennessee State Library and Archives. Some of the material may have been in TSLA's possession since its creation. Other material may have been transferred from the Department of Education when TSLA moved out of the Capitol and into its current building in 1953. Processing and Administrative